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CHESTER TOWNSHIP 



POWESHIEK COUNTY, lOWI, 



READ AT THE 




(^\xvixUv^(£^cnUnnmt Sulij 4tTx, 1881, 



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UN HISTORICAL SKETCH 



CHESTER TOWNSHIP, 



POWESHIEK COUNTY, lOWI, 



READ AT THE 



QUARTER-CENTENNIAL, JULY 4, 1881 



BY C3-. H. -WHIITE 




GRINNELL, IOWA : 

CRAVATH & SHAW, STEAM PRINTERS. 

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The year ISSl being the twenty-fifth year of the settlement of Ciiesteh 
Township, Poweshiek County, Iowa, its citizens observed the Fourth of July 
as a Quarter-Centennial, The place of meeting was Henry Sherman's grove. 
The day was charming. Large numbers were present, including many from 
(Jrinnell. Charles Fisher, one of the Trustees of the Township, presided, and 
Thomas Fuller, the Clerk of the Township, acted as Secretary. After prayer 
by Rev. D. B. Davidson, Mr. Fisher, in a few fitting words, welcomed the 
people to Chester. Miss Fanny H. Sherman, the oldest living person born 
in the township, read the Declaration of Independence. An Historical Sketch 
of the Township was read by Rev. G. H. White, and brief addresses were 
made by Rev. J. G. Barton, Rev. D. B. Davidson, and D. F. Hays. The exer- 
cises were enlivened by music by the Chester Band, a medley by a male quar- 
tette, and "old-time music" on the violin by C. Skiff, and on the fife by J. 
Holmes. A most sumptuous dinner, such as the Chester ladies know so well 
liow to prepare, was then served. The one only drawback to the pleasure of 
the day was the thought of our honored President, stricken down by the 
hand of the assassin. In order to place on record facts, the memory of which 
would otherwise soon fade out, the following sketch is printed. 



LETTER FROM HON. J. B. GRINNELL. 



Grinnell, Iowa, July 5th, 1881. 
Rev. G. II. White, Chester: 

My Bear Sir :—Yow know why I could not be at your Quarter- 
Centennial Celebration. It was a sad day, and on any other occasion I could 
have added little to your history— so true, in fine taste, and with elegant 
delineation. Chester forever! The township where the lamented Horace 
Greeley found the wide corn-flelds, yielding one hundred bushels to the acre; 
noted for good roads, and live farmers, and intelligent stock-raisers ; saga- 
cious in keeping out of courts of law, and with no saloons, no candidates for 
jail or poor-house. You are giving a larger per cent, of your youth a college 
education than any town in Iowa, and enjoy a like pre-eminence in church- 
going and benevolent contributions; with many other solid but modest vir- 
tues, which give you rank as the model and eminent rural town of this proud 

commonwealth. 

Yours, J. B. Grinnell. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 



Twenty-six years ago to-day, when the pealing of bells and the booming of 
cannon ushered in the Fourth of July, 1855, this township of Chester was un- 
known. Not a tree had been planted, not a rod of fence had been built, not 
a road laid out. There was simply the rolling prairie, on which, year by year, 
tlie flowers bloomed and faded, the grass waved and withered, and the birds 
sang, as they had for a thousand years before. But that summer the exten- 
sion of the Rock Island Railroad into Iowa gave a new impulse to immigra- 
tion, and the busy, enterprising hand of man was laid on the prairies of Ches- 
ter. The sod was turned, and corn rustled and grain waved where before 
liad grown only the rank grass. Houses were erected, roads laid out, bridges 
built, groves planted, school-houses and churches put up, and now, after the 
elapse of twenty-five years, here we are to-day in this beautiful grove, to ac- 
knowledge the good hand of our God upon us. Certainly it is very fitting, at 
the end of a quarter of a century, that we assemble on this anniversary day, 
and trace the way by which God hath led us. 

In the autumn of 1854, William Sherman and Stillman Stockwell, both for- 
merly of Croydon, New Hampshire, but then residing in l^yons, Iowa, were 
called upon by their friend, the Rev. Job Cushman, who spoke in glowing 
terras of the beautiful prairies lying nortli of the new town of Grinnell, and 
on Mr. Cushman's representations they purchased eight hundred acres in 
what is now Chester Township. In December, 18.54, Mr. Sherman came to 
inspect the land he had purchased, and was so pleased with the situation that 
lie purchased a thousand acres more, and made arrangements with Henry 
Lawrence. Esq., of Grinnell, to have a few acres broken. The following 
spring, that is, in the spring of 1855, Mr. Lawrence had ten acres of land bro- 
ken. This breaking was a little south of where Jason Sherman's house now 
stands. The work was done by W. L. Carleton, a Campbellite minister. Mr. 
Jehu Hayes, now of Rockwell, in Calhoun County, about the same time 
turned a few furrows for planting locust trees, both on his own quarter and 



6 HISTORICAL SKETCH 

on the quarter west of Jason Sherman's home quarter, then owned by a Mr. 
Thomas, now lesiding in Newton. The same spring Mr. Lawrence liad a 
shanty, sixteen by eighteen feet, put up for the breakers to live in. This was 
the first house put up in Chester of which we have any certain knowledge, 
and is now used by Mr. Sherman as a granary. There is a tradition, also, that 
in a little grove a short distance below the Seymore Grove, the early settlers 
found the remains of a cabin which once had been used by counterfeiters; 
but of this we have no certain information. 

In the summer of 1856, that is, twenty-five years ago this summer, Mr. 
Sherman's shanty was occupied by two men named Atwood and llich, of 
Cape Cod, Mass., and familiarly known as "the Cape Cod boys." They raised 
the first crop of corn ever raised in Chester, on the aforesaid ten acres of Mr. * 
Sherman's. These Cape Cod boys brought with them water-lily bulbs and 1 
pine seeds from the Cape; and the beautiful water-lilies now growing in 
Bear Creek, and the pine trees on the premises of Henry and Jason Sherman 
and Albert Williams are from the seed brought by them from Cape Cod. 
Atwood and Rich, in tlie autumn of 1850, built a shanty near Mr. ]3igelow's 
residence, but after remaining in it a little while they retui-ned East. 

In the summer of 1856 a shanty was also put up on the Munson farm, then 
owned by a military officer named Campbell, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y,, and oc- 
cupied till winter by George Farnham and his father and mother. These 
were the first three shanties put up in Chester: Jason Sherman's, in the 
spring of 1855; Mr. Campbell's, on the Munson farm, in the summer of 1850, 
and the Cape Cod boys' shanty in the autumn of 1856. 

About Sept. 1, 1850, Jason W. Sherman and his wife moved into Chester, 
and occupied the shanty before spoken of while building their present home. 
That fall that little shanty teemed with life. It contained Mr. and Mrs. 
Jason Sherman, Mr. and Mrs. Newton Sherman, Henry Sherman, Harrison 
Wheelock, and at times two or three visitors and workmen. And as into 
Paradise of old the serpent entered, so into this little paradise the snakes 
would enter by crawling through the floor, their glittering eyes peering over 
the edge of the table, and anxiously inspecting the quality of the food which 
these new comers to this prairie had brought. A little later in the fall that 
shanty witnessed an experience of a different kind. One November night a 
heavy snow storm fell, and the next morning twelve baskets of snow were 
carried out before breakfast could be prepared. The frame and common 
lumber of Mr. Sherman's house were brought from Indian Town, but the 
doors, windows, nails and finishing lumber were brought from Iowa City. 
The carpentering work was done by H. W. Wheelock. That first winter Mr. 
Sherman's family was the only family in the township. 



OF CHESTER TOWNSHIP. i 

May 18, 1857, Henry Sherman with his bride, fresh I'rora the hills of New- 
port, N. H., joined his brother, and began building his present home. Much 
of its material was hauled from Iowa City. That summer these two families, 
the only ones in the township, both occupied Jason Sherman's house. Hav- 
ing w-ith them a certain celebrated Iniilder named Kellogg, from Grinnell, 
engaged with his workmen in finishing the house, the ladies did not wish 
tiiat that first Fourth of July in the township should pass unnoticed. So 
they procured large quantities of roses and wild floAvers. with which they 
adorned the unplastered walls, and prepared as good a dinner as the conve- 
niences of that early day would allow. But, much to their regret, the car- 
penters were so anxious to spend the afternoon in Grinnell that they hur- 
riedly swallowed their dinner and started off, without once acknowledging 
the elaborate decorations and sumptuous viands, prepared for their benefit! 
Only another instance of woman's unappreciated work! 

In the spring of 1858, the infant settlement received a strong acquisition in 
the persons of Joseph and John Hays with their families, from Maryland. 
These two venerable men and their sister, Aunt Betsey, now 81, are still with 
us. For many years may they be yet spared to us. Their sons, Daniel F., 
and Joseph T., and Thomas, and William M., and Joseph B., and their daugh- 
ter, Mrs. S..G. Page, have rendered invaluable service in every noble and prais- 
worthy work. As far as we know Mr. John Hays was the first person, of 
those now residing in the township, to visit these prairies. He was here in 
the summer of 1854. 

The year 1859 brought in Cornelius Skiff, Abram Hayes. Salvador Hayes, 
Wilson Sherman, S. G. Page, and Samuel Hayes. The year 1860 brought in 
Charles and Edward Fisher, who settled first on what is now known as the 
Carmichael farm. 1861 brought in John Lightner, and 1862 the Stockwells, 
and Albert Williams, and soon after came the Wheelocks, the llutherfords, 
the Rickards, the Fullers, the Shackleys and Bigelows. In later years came 
the Parrishes, the Sanders Bros., A. R. Heald, Wm. Sherman, R. W. Clarke, 
who ever since have been closely identified with the best interests of the 
township. Since then, one by one, families have moved in, until now the en- 
tire township is settled, and almost every acre of land is under cultivation. 
The population— according to the last census— was 623. 

Little do we, who have come in later, know of the privations and toils those 
early settlers experienced; the long rides in blinding snow storms, over path- 
less prairies, with no house within miles; the plunging with loaded teams 
through creeks and sloughs; the fires sweeping across the prairies, threaten- 
ing to burn up the little home and its surroundings; the wearing loneliness, 
consequent upon the isolated life on the prairies, alojieliness sometimes deep- 



8 HISTORICAL .SKETCH 

ened into fear by the howling of the wolves around the house; the long weeks 
of wasting sickness, far away from the loved and dear; the dying hour of the 
wife or little child, and the tearful burial upon the lonely prairie. We who 
have come later can never know of those privations. And, herein is that say- 
ing true, "One soweth and another reapeth," others have labored and we are 
entered into their labors. 

One of those early incidents might be called Chester's first experience with 
the tramp. In the spring of '58, Mrs. Jason Sherman was spending the day 
with Mrs. Henry Sherman, their husbands having gone some miles to work. 
They observed a man with a club in his hands coming toward the house. He 
was an Irishman, and of a powerful frame. The ladies hurriedly bolted the 
doors and windows, and retreated upstairs. The man shook the doors and 
windows violently, endeavoring to force an entrance but failed. He then 
braced himself against a window, trying to break it in, when Mrs. Henry 
Sherman appeared at the window with a loaded gun, and told him if he did not 
desist she would shoot. The man dropped on his knees in mortal terror, cross- 
ing himself and calling upon the saints and virgin, and pleading for mercy. 
He said he was hungry and wanted bread. Mrs. Sherman, with the gun in 
one hand, and a loaf in the other, went out, compelled him to sit down on a 
bench while he ate the bread, and then to go away. So unruly, however, was 
the man afterwards, that lie was whipped out of the township by .Jason Sher- 
man. 

The township was formally organized Oct. 22. 1860, and the first election 
held in the house of Henry Sherman. Thirteen persons exercised the right of 
franchise at that election, viz: J. Hays, D. F. Hays, J. A. Hays, J. T. Hays 
W. M. Hays, Samuel Hays, Abram W. Hays, S. G. Page, J. W. Sherman, Hen- 
ry Sherman, Wilson Sherman, Cornelius Skiff and H. P. Strain. Cornelius 
Skiff was elected the first Township Clerk, W. M. Hays, Assessoi-, and Wilson 
Sherman, D. F. Hays, and J. Hays, Trustees. 

The Township was named Chester, after Chester, Vermont, the home of the 
Fisher Brothers. The name Chester, comes from an old Latin word signify- 
ing a camp. When the llomans conquered England, they built a very strong 
citadel thirteen miles from Liverpool, and called it "Devana Castra." The 
Saxons called it "Caestre," and afterwards "Chester." It is one of the most 
celebrated places in England, and probably from it descended the name of all 
the modern CJhesters. In the Anglo-Saxon langnage Chester signified a city; 
so in the strict meaning of the word, all our township is a city. 

In the fall of 1860 nearly the entire population of the township rode in a 
large wagon to Toledo, to hear Gov. Kirkwood speak. The flag which floated 



OF CHESTEIJ TOWNSHIP. \) 

over them that autumn day, like our glorious Union, is still preserved, and af- 
ter twenty years, is floating over us to-day. 

The first child born in the township was Sarah Francella Sherman, a daugh- 
ter of Jason W. Sherman, and was born Nov. 19th, 1857. She lived about six 
years. 

The oldest living person born in the township, is Miss Fanny Sherman, a 
daughter of Henry Sherman, born June 10th, 18o9. The first male child born 
in the township is Milton Skiff, born Oct. 22, 1859. Tiie youngest child, at the 
expiration of this quarter of a century, we believe is Maud Sellei'S. 

The first death in the township was that of Miss Deborah Hays, a young la- 
dy twenty-two years of age, and a daughter of Joseph Hays. She died Dec. 2, 
1859. of cerebro spinal meningitis, and was buried in Grinnell. 

The first burial in the cemetery was tliat of Harry Stockwell, a son, of B. F. 
Stockwell, aged four years, who was run over by a loaded wagon. He died 
Sept. 9th, 1864. The same week two other children died and were buried— in 
the cemetery— viz. Sept. 14, Willie Fisher, a son of Charles Fisher, aged four 
months, and Sept. 15, Elmer Sherman, a son of Henry Sherman, aged two 
years. 

The number of graves now in the cemetery is about seventy, mostly of 
women and children. It is a remarkable fact that during the first sixteen 
years of the township, only one man died, and he was an invalid, who came 
to visit his brother and died while in the township. Such another instance 
can hardly be found in the land; a township settled for sixteen years, and 
not a young man nor an old man dying in all these years. Elmer Potter, a 
young man of some promise, was drowned while bathing in Bear Creek, July 
1876. 

The first marriage was that of Mr. Frank Burleigh and Miss Mary Thompson, 
Nov., '63, at the residence of Wm. Thompson. Jehu A. Hayes and Miss Caro- 
line Maltbie, then residents of the township, were married in September pre- 
vious; but as they went to Grinnell and were married by Rev. L. C. Rouse, 
they failed of having the first wedding in the township. 

The first school in the township was taught by Miss Jennie Howard, in the 
spring of '62, in a house built by Sam'l Hays, but then unoccupied. This house 
stood about 40 rods, directly north of the north-east corner of Henry Sherman's 
farm— some forty rods south of Abner Wood's house. Some of the scholars in 
that first school were FrancesWilliams, now Mrs. W. M. Hays; Mary Hays, 
now Mrs. Salvador Hays of Nebraska; Thomas Hays; Joseph B. Hays; Belle, 
Nellie and Frank Skiff; Eddie Sherman and two Holliday children. 

The first school-house, now known as No. 2, was built in the summer of 



10 HISTORICAL SKETCH 

1862. The township now contains nine school-houses; and about twenty-five 
hundred dollars per year is expended on the schools. 

The first religious service held in the township was at the house of J. W. 
Sherman, July 18, 1858, when the Rev. Job Cushman preached to an audience 
of fifteen persons. In the summer of '62 a Sunday School and Prayer Meet- 
ing were organized in the Samuel Hays house, and on the erection of the first 
school-house the Sunday School and Prayer Meetings were transferred there. 
The numbers and interest increasing, the services of L. (J. Rouse, of Grinnell, 
were secured, and he preached during the summers of '63—4. June 15, 1865, 
the first Congregational Church was organized with sixteen members, Pres, 
Magoun preaching the sermon. Prof. Buck was then employed to preach, 
and the congregation outgrowing tlie limits of the school-house, the present 
Congregational Church edifice was«erected in 1868, at a cost of three thousand 
dollars. 

The ministers of this Church have been Prof. S. J. Buck, Prof. C. W. Clapp, 
Pres. G. F. Magoun, and G. H. White. The present membership is about one 
hundred and fifty. The Sabbath School averages an attendance of one hun- 
dred. W.J.Rutherford is the present Superintendent. A Parsonage was 
put up adjacent to the Church building in 1874, at a cost of $1,500.00, and fur- 
nishes an excellent residence for the Pastor. 

The M. E. Church was organized March 18, 1867, by Rev. D. Murphy, of 
Grinnell. For some years the services were held in the school-house and 
private dwellings, but in 1874 their present edifice was erected at a cost of 
$3,400.00. Its pastors have been Revs. Dennis Murphy, J. D. De Tarr, Dr. L. 
N. Busby, James M. Coates, J. E. Corley, W. H. Honn, E. P. Michener, J. W. 
Robinson, ,]. B. Brown, E. L. Briggs, O. Cessna, W. F. Cowles, R. Neilson, S. 
R. Ferguson, and J. G. Barton. Tlie Sabbath School averages an attendance 
of 75 scholars. J. W. Harpster is Superintendent. 

The Chester Library Association was organized in February, 1877, and con- 
tains one hundred and sixty standard volumes. 

Two Postoffices exist in the township— "Chester Center," established in '77, 
and of which C. B. Smith has been Postmaster since its organization, and 
"Sonora," founded in 1878, of which IT. James is Postmaster. There is also 
one store and one Cheese Factory, both under the care of C. B.Smith. About 
40,000 pounds of cheese are made annually, of a deservedly high reputation. 

On the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861, Chester was thoroughly loyal 
to the Union, and great interest was felt in the success of the Union arms. 
Out of the families then in the township— numbering hardly over a dozen- 
eleven men enlisted, viz: W. M. Hayes, Walter P. Blanchard, Hugh P. Strain, 
Adam Spade, Salvador Hays, Edward Fisher, Daniel F. Hays, Leonard Wil- 



OF 01 [ESTER TOWNSHIP. 11 

muth, S. C. Carter, Samuel Tliompson, and W. R. Look. Arthur Manfield, of 
Highland Township, was also employed by this township as a sultstitute. 
These eleven men from Chester rendered very efficient service in the war for 
the Union. W. M. Hayes, Blanchard, Spade, and Wilmutli were in the ser- 
vice, each nearly four years, and did not leave it till the war was ended. W. 
M. Hayes was in nineteen battles and twenty-one skirmishes, and did not re- 
ceive a scratch. Edward Fisher's death was undoubtedly hastened by the 
injury hisiconstitution received in the cavalry. Samuel Thompson died in • 
the service, and lies buried near Gravelly Springs. Ala. D. F. Hays was in the 
army two years and nine months. Eighteen years ago to-day, when the 4th 
of July. 1803, was celebrated by Vicksburg surrendering to Gen. Grant, and 
when the shout of victory— a shout like the roar of many waters— went up 
from 100,000 men, C. B. Smith, D. F. Hays, and W. M. Hays, of Chester, join- 
ed in that shout. The following persons, now residents of Chester, were also 
in the army: H. T. Wheelock, A. J. Morford, W. C. Hafkey, C. B. Smith, .7. 
Holmes. C. Lord, T. Fuller, R. Wescoe, R. Marsh, Howard Morris, A. Arm- 
strong, Henry Schraeder, Leroy Forehand, W. J. Rutherford and J. B. Hanson. 
At the time of the celebrated "Blue Point War," below Grinnell, but one man 
remained in the township. 

This sketch would not be complete without a remembrance of the departed, 
some of whom rendered such efficient service in the early days of the town- 
ship. Among these are Mrs. Angenette Sherman, wife of Jason W. Sherman ; 
Mrs. Sophronia A. Sherman, wife of Wilson Sherman; Mrs. Sarah Hays, Mrs. 
C. Skiff, Edward Fisher. Mrs. William Thompson, Mrs. Mahala Sherman, Al- 
vin Rickard, Mrs. Frank Burleigh, Mrs. E. Cocking, Mr. and Mrs. Clay, Mr. 
Edelblute, Mr. Johnston, and Mr. Childs. Over their graves, on this anni- 
versary day, we drop the tears of affection, and wreathe afresh their tombs 
with the flowers of our loving remembrance. 

And so, after twenty-five years of toil, here we are to-day to thank God for 
the kind hand with which He has blessed Chester. Truly, He has given to 
us a goodly heritage. And as we look to-day upon these fertile farms, these 
pleasant homes, these beautiful groves, these school-houses and churches, 
this liappy people, ought we not to sing, "Praise God, from Whom all Bless- 
ings flow ?" There is hardly a township in the State with a better soil, with 
a more healthful climate, with better farms, or a better people. I have never 
lived in a community where there was so little of evil as in Chester.^ True, 
we cannot boast of a College, but we have twenty young men and young 
women who are making their way through college, and who rank high in 
their classes, and who ere long will be heard from on the great field of life. 
One of our number, Prof. Charles Davidson, is the founder and Principal of 

-. "-_,^-^ij V' ^i '■'' w.^.-^ . i ^ 



12 IIISTOEICAL SKETCH OF CHESTER TOWNSHIP. 

Minneapolis Academy, an institution which has already gained an acknowl- 
edged place in that city ; and one member of the Congregational Church, Miss 
Mary Pinkerton, has been laboring for seven years as a missionary in South- 
ern Africa. 

True, we have no Bank to boast of, but we liave an untold amount of 
greenbacks— in the greenbacks of God's bank; in the greensward and grow- 
ing grain and corn on twenty-two thousand acres. 

True, we have no Lawyer nor Physician, and we can also gratefully add, we 
have no saloon and no drunkard in Chester. Our people are all engaged in a 
vocation that will be needed as long as the earth stands. When that golden 
age comes, of which prophets have spoken and poets sung, there will be no 
longer any need of lawyers, for every one will do right. There may be no 
need of physicians, for all will obey the laws of nature. There may possibly 
be no need of teachers and preachers, for all will know the Lord. IJut while 
the world stands there will be need of the tiller of the soil— of the sturdy, 
honest farmer, to raise the wheat and corn for the sustenance of human life. 
And that Chester is not remiss in this, we may state that in the year 1879 she 
produced 259,295 bushels of corn, 58,716 bushels of oats, 17,162 bushels of wheat. 
39,000 pounds of butter, 6.238 head of swine, while 800 head of horses perform- 
ed the farm work, and 812 cows furnished milk. Her Holstein and Short- 
Horned cattle are known all over Central Iowa, and her fatted cattle attract 
attention in the Chicago markets. 

And so at the end of our First Quarter of a Century, thankfully we raise 
here to-day our Ebenezer, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." But 
when the next quarter of a century has rolled around, and Chester celebrates 
her jubilee, how many of us here to-day will then be absent. Some ofius per- 
haps in other places, some in that city whose builder and maker is God. Said 
an Iowa statesman at the Centennial, "But while Amei'ica exhibits to the 
Monarchies of the old world her stately jewels, she points with pride and says 
this, the center of ray diadem, is Iowa." And may we add. while Iowa ex- 
hibits to her sister states her children, may she never blush to say, this, one 
of my noblest and truest, is Chester. 



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